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浑身 (hún shēn) — the whole body; all over one's body

Definition

'From head to toe' — emphasizes that a feeling or condition affects every part of the body. More vivid/literary than 全身; 比 全身 更强调 "从头到脚" 的整体感。

noun
the whole bodyall over one's body

Examples

  • ，浑身。
    Tā lín le yì chǎng dà yǔ, hún shēn dōu shī tòu le.
    He got caught in a heavy rain and was drenched all over.
  • ，浑身。
    Zuò wán jiàn shēn, tā hún shēn suān téng bù yǐ.
    After working out, his whole body was sore.
  • ，浑身。
    Tā gāng cái shuāi le yì jiāo, téng dé hún shēn dōu shì shāng.
    He just fell and got hurt all over.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

浑húnwhole
身shēnbody

Whole and body combine to mean the entire body.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 渾; 浑 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐriver
Sound part声符shēngfú
軍
軍jūn渾hún
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 渾 pairs 氵 (river) with 軍 to give the sound; the simplified 浑 is a later shorthand, and its right side is not the historical component.

Open 浑 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 身 comes from a drawing of a pregnant woman.

Open 身 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Body Parts5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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